PANEL 2

PANEL 2 - Science fiction Culture

The second panel will take place in KINO 2 in SESSION 2 starting at 13:30, Saturday.Attendees will have the opportunity to ask and discuss there opinions and experiences on the topics with our panel. We will explore the Science Fiction Genre, its originate, and its subgenres. What is the difference between Hard Sci-Fi and Space Opera, Cyber vs Steampunk, what are Fanfilms and who are Cosplayers. Where is the journey going in terms off Filmmaking, Sci-Fi Culture, and how is this impacting our society?

Anthony Straeger - Moderator

Anthony has been in the film industry as actor, filmmaker and writer for over 30 years,. With a passion for horror and sci-fi, I’ve written a number of feature scripts including: Between the Walls, which will be shot in Morecambe UK in 2019, The Kamenka Experiment, which has won four screen writing festivals in the US. A recent co-write Fotoautomat Man is currently in post-production. WEBSITE

Simon Lejeune - Artist, painter, illustrator and comic author

Strongly influenced by science-fiction masters like H.R. Giger, Moebius, Bilal and many more, Simon Lejeune aka Haedre deals with thematics like space travel, artificial intelligence, virtual realities and ultimately, the border of what it is to be human. His works are in books like “Biomech Art: Surrealism, Cyborgs and Alien Universes” and he also successfully self-published his own graphic story, “Devlok, the Techno-Templar”, entirely made with watercolor and ink. WEBSITE

David Parella - Director of ORIGIN

David Parrella is an American filmmaker from Pittsburgh, currently based in Austin, Texas. A fan of all types of science fiction, Origin is his thesis film from his studies at the University of Texas at Austin and focuses on the practical aspects of hard sci-fi, inspired by films such as The Martian, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Prometheus. David currently works as a freelance cinematographer and editor in Austin, and his works have appeared on MTV, in Times Square, and at festivals around the United States.

Alex Pfander – Festival Director & creator of MISSION BACKUP EARTH

Is a scriptwriter, director & creator of films and series, with a strong interest in storytelling and new world creating. His media experience includes editing and post-production and am the creator of the award winning Sci-fi Webseries, Mission Backup Earth, and is always looking for new adventures in the media world and as a Sci-fi fan I want to connect filmmakers and audiences by showcasing work from around the world that celebrates the Sci-Fi genre. WEBSITE

Catya Plate - Director of MEETING MACGUFFIN

Catya Plate, born in Barcelona, Spain, is a Brooklyn based multi-award winning filmmaker and artist, working in sculpture, painting, drawing, installation and artist books. Raised in Germany, she studied Fine Arts at the Werkkunstschule, Köln, before coming to New York on a Fulbright Scholarship for post-graduate studies at the School of Visual Arts. Her stop-motion animated films and other projects explore the ephemeral nature of existence by creating an alternative universe, which exposes, among other things, humanity’s impact on the environment. Catya has been exhibiting internationally since the mid-1980’s. Her work is in public and private collections worldwide, like the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Modern Art Library in New York. Articles, interviews and reviews about her films and art work have appeared, among others, in The New York Times, Film Threat, Unseen Films, Directed By Women, We are Moving Stories and The Independent. “Meeting MacGuffin”, the sequel of “Hanging By A Thread” and second in a trilogy of stop-motion animated shorts is currently making its rounds in the international film festival circuit with 50 film festival screenings and 14 awards to its credit. Among those awards is the 2017 Grand Prize for Best Animated Short at the Academy-Award qualifying Rhode Island International Film Festival-Vortex, Best Shorts Production Designat the Other Worlds Austin SciFi Film Festival, Texas, and the 2018 Special Jury Prize for Animation at the 30th Annual Fano International Film Festival, Italy.Website – IMDb – Meeting MacGuffin IMDB.